


When You Come Back Down

by CupidStrikes



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M, Mentions of Mental Illness, Noctis enables him, Nyx makes some Terrible Life Choices, and vice versa, esp anxiety and depression, kinda hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-09-27 13:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10023725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CupidStrikes/pseuds/CupidStrikes
Summary: Some days all of the responsibilities and lessons and expectations get too much for Noctis to handle, and on those days, Nyx is happy to lend him a shoulder or a quiet place to stay until he recharges. He may or may not come to regret this decision.





	1. It's all good if you would/Stop the world from making sense

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the kinkmeme prompt:  
> "Noctis gets overwhelmed by his duties and how he is supposed to behave. So he runs...okay, he warps away from the Citadel and winds up with Nyx. Nyx isn't an asshole so when he figures out what is going on he lets Noctis crash at his apartment on the days it gets too much. Since he's Kingsglaive and everyone knows it and breaking in would be stupid."
> 
> No warnings in this chapter, though each subsequent chapter(s) that the tags apply to will have specific warnings, though I don't expect anything too full-on...yet.

Part One: It's all good if you would/Stop the world from making sense

 

Of all the things Nyx didn't expect to see on his evening wallguard shift, the Crown Prince falling at his feet – literally – was up there at the top with Garulas sprouting wings and flying over the Citadel.

 

It looks almost intentional, with the way the young man gracefully falls from the sky and, warping the last few feet and barely avoiding breaking several important bones, landing in a very regal heap, skidding only once along the tarmac before coming to a dazed stop.

 

Nyx doesn't approach at first; takes a glance around for any assassins or would-be assailants that might be tailing the prince first. Nothing comes. Birds sing, and car engines thrum along the nearby highway, but there are no shouts or hurried footsteps that normally accompany a threat to the Royal family's lives.

 

When Nyx looks back, the prince is picking himself off the floor, looking very much like the cat he used to have whenever she took a tumble off her windowsill perch: a little too perfectly unruffled, and hoping that pretending it didn't happen would erase the fact.

 

“Didn't...mean to do that.”

 

The prince – Noctis, Nyx recalls – is already on his feet and dusting off his jeans, and he jumps just the tiniest bit when Nyx speaks, whirling round as he finally notices his audience.

 

“You lost, Your Highness?”

 

“Not exactly.”

 

The comment makes Nyx grin and Noctis scowl in response. Nyx holds his hands up.

 

“I'm not laughing at you.”

 

“You better not be.”

 

Noctis doesn't grace him with a threat but Nyx figures he doesn't have to. He expects Noctis to leave now that he's rectified his error but the young man makes no move to warp or even walk away. He turns away from Nyx, surveying the barren border plaza before turning back to him.

 

“You the only one out here?”

 

“Depends.”

 

“On what?”

 

Noctis isn't used to having things withheld, Nyx can see, by the faint tone of impatient curiosity that is bleeding into his voice. Astrals help them if the boy ever got captured.

 

Nyx doesn't mean to bait him, really, but jibes slip off his tongue easily with no filter, and he finds himself sort-of-not-really surprised when the prince tilts his chin up and does an admittedly compelling impression of King Regis's serious voice.

 

“Take me back into the city. South of the Citadel. Glaive.”

 

“So you are lost?”

 

Nyx isn't sure what Noctis wants in that district – suburban. Far enough from the main city to be comfortable, but not too far to be inconvenient. Expensive – but he's becoming slowly sure of one thing.

 

The prince doesn't want to go home.

 

Nyx can roll with that.

 

“Alright, alright, I finish in a half hour. If you can wait, I'll take you, but I'm not leaving this post, not even for you.”

 

“....Fair enough then.”

 

It's almost too faint for him to see, but Nyx fancies he sees Noctis smile as the prince approaches and flops down onto the floor in the shade of Nyx's shadow.

 

“You comfy there, Your Highness?”

 

“Absolutely.”

 

And as if to prove his point, Noctis leans his head back against the stone, closes his eyes, and falls promptly asleep.

 

 

* * *

 

Nyx should have known from that first day that this was a bad idea. “Just taking Noctis home” had turned into a short trip to McDonalds (and Nyx was sure that it was highly illegal or at least punishable by something to take the Crown Prince to McDonalds) and then his own home, and once he had let Noctis through the front door the prince had immediately taken up residence on his sofa – declaring it to be the Comfiest Sofa He Had Ever Sat On – and had closed his eyes as Nyx firmly locked his bedroom door to get changed.

 

He was sure that taking the single heir to the throne to his shitty apartment was probably illegal, too, but Nyx couldn't bring himself to care.

 

“Where did His Highness say he wanted to go?”

 

Changed and feeling a heck of a lot more comfortable doing this in jeans and a baggy old shirt, Nyx approaches the sofa and leans over Noctis, frowning when the Prince doesn't react. There was no way he had fallen that deeply asleep in – he checked his watch – two minutes and thirty-two seconds.

 

“Your Highness. Noctis.”

 

Running out of ideas, Nyx raises a hand and outstretches his index finger, moving it steadily towards the fleshy part of Noctis's cheek and he grins when the prince catches his wrist, the tip of his finger close enough to feel warmth radiating off him.

 

“Hey there, Sleeping Beauty.”

 

Noctis's grip tightens hard enough to make Nyx wince as he snickers at his own joke, but he doesn't push him away.

 

“Lemme stay here.”

 

Nyx stops laughing.

 

He can think of a good thirty or so reasons (and he's darn sure there are plenty more he hasn't thought of) why this is a Terrible Idea and he is a Terrible Person for even entertaining it, but he finds himself nodding and acquiescing all the same. Noctis can stay for as long as he likes, and no, it's no trouble at all so long as he doesn't mind that the heating only works in summer and that the occupants above and below may or may not be crazy axe murderers.

 

Noctis shrugs though Nyx's half-arsed attempt to put him off and Nyx mirrors the motion after five minutes, satisfied that he has done his best and yes he means that sincerely, officer.

 

They stay in a comfortable silence for the evening, Noctis mostly napping or playing some game on his phone whilst Nyx takes care of a few chores and completes his paperwork. They order pizza after it gets dark, and Nyx is finishing off the last piece when the prince finally seems to come back to reality.

 

“Is that King'sGlaive stuff?”

 

“Sure is.”

 

Nyx can see Noctis scrunching his face up out of the corner of his eyes.

 

“I figured there wouldn't be so much paperwork.”

 

Nyx thinks that that statement could be applied to a whole bunch of things in life but doesn't comment. Far be it from him to put the prince off his royal duties.

 

“Yeah well, there is when you're the best. Gotta keep the boss happy even when you're a hero.”

 

Noctis meets his grin with an utterly deadpan look, and Nyx finds himself fighting another laugh.

 

“What, you don't believe me?”

 

“You don't exactly sell yourself as a paragon of honesty and humility.”

 

Noctis is definitely smirking now, and damn if it isn't a good look on him. Nyx holds his hands up in surrender.

 

“Well, gee, you got me, Your Highness. What can I do to redeem myself, Your Royalness?”

 

Noctis rolls his eyes as he gets up from the sofa, leaving a prince-shaped groove in the cushion.

 

“Feed me pizza.”

 

He leans in close enough for Nyx to see the darker flecks in his irises, and a faint mole to the left of his mouth, and Nyx opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted by the doorbell. Noctis pulls away and slides into the least broken of his two dining chairs, leaving Nyx to fetch the pizza and bringing to the table. Smart move, considering the trouble it might stir to have the Prince answer his door so late in the evening...

 

“You not eating?”

 

Noctis already has half a slice of pizza in his mouth, and it's on the tip of Nyx's tongue to enquire as to whether Noctis skipped the dining part of his etiquette lessons when his stomach grumbles and he reluctance lets it go in favour of reaching for a slice before it gets cold.

 

“Brat.”

 

He says fondly when Noctis is licking his fingers clean, and Noctis looks up, grinning just a little behind his hand, and Nyx knows then that he is fucked and that there is no coming back from this.

  
  
Noctis grins back at him savagely and leans across the table as Nyx watches his mouth form words.

 

“Right back at you.”

 


	2. 2. Too many voices it won't take long/which one's right and which one's wrong

2\. Too many voices it won't take long/which one's right and which one's wrong

 

Nyx wakes up to a solid weight pressed up against his back and across his waist, and he freezes as he desperately tries to recall the previous night's events. He doesn't remember bringing anyone home – or even meeting anyone to go home with – and he lacks the familiar deep ache that normally accompanies his hangovers. Then what...?

 

He sits up, somewhat awkwardly with the way the mystery person is clinging onto him, and turns his head to get a good enough look at their face and Ohgodhe'sgotthefuckingPrinceofLucisinhisbed he's dead, he's so dead, he's suddenly glad that Drautos insisted one each of them writing a will when they took the King'sGlaive Oaths because at least Libertus is going to get something out of this, and do they still hold public executions anymore? Because that's kind of not the way he wanted to go and -

 

Nyx is still silently freaking out when Noctis stirs.

 

The Glaive pauses mid-flail and looks down at him, forcing his attention through one channel for now, and, shit, it's hard to regret all his life choices when Noctis is looking up at him blearily with a sleepy-soft smile and adjusting his hold on Nyx's side, and man he's so glad he didn't wake up with morning wood today because that's a whole other can of awkward Nyx does not want to open.

 

“Morning.”

 

Noctis at least seems unperturbed by this set of events and Nyx returns that smile slowly, putting his hand over that wandering one to keep it in place.

 

“Hey there. Sleep well, Princess?”

 

Noctis scrunches his face up and reaches for one of the pillows, shoving it into Nyx's face as he sits up and stretches and wow Nyx hadn't realised he was that toned and – Nyxstopstaring.

 

He shakes his head to clear those highly illegal thoughts from his head and carefully picks his way over Noctis, managing not to accidentally brush his bare skin to Noctis's, and out of the bed. He hisses as his feet touch the cold floor, and he looked back at the Prince, pausing when he sees the thick, dark scar tissue that peeks at his side under his ribs and disappears towards his back. It's gone a second later when Noctis pulls his t-shirt back on, and he shrugs into it.

 

“Daemon did it.” Noctis looks up at him briefly.

 

“Wasn't gonna ask.” Nyx shakes his head and goes to the kitchen, filling the kettle and rummaging through the cupboards for two of his least chipped and faded plates, and he grinned at Noctis when the Prince rejoined him.

 

“Is toast accepted for His Highness?”

 

Noctis slid into one of the chairs at the table and nodded, resting his chin in his palm.

 

“Do you take your coffee black?”

 

Another brief nod.

 

“Well good 'cause the milk's off.”

 

Nyx can almost hear the lecture he'll get if his Captain, or any members of the general public, for that matter, find out about this, and he wonders again what Noctis is even doing hanging around here and accepting the thin slices of toast and cheap butter as if it wasn't the opposite of how he normally ate. Noctis pulls a face when tasting the black and unsweetened coffee, though, and that satisfies Nyx that he's not dealing with some kind of imposter at least.

 

“So....you got plans for today?”

 

Noctis fumbles his phone out of his pocket and Nyx catches sight of all the blank screen when he unlocks it.

 

“No one called you?”

 

He was sure that by now there would be searches, and – Nyx checks the time and it's definitely nowhere near as early as it feels – surely he has been missed by now?

 

“Dad thinks I'm at the apartment, Ignis doesn't come over on a Thursday because he has weapons training and a council meeting late, and Gladio's doing something similar. Normally I'd hit the arcade but Prompto said he really had to study for this test next week.”

 

“Surely there are guards.” Nyx should know, but the protection of the Prince falls under the Crownsguard's responsibilities, not the King's Glaive, and it's rare that the two groups cross paths on duty, let alone share them.

 

“Uhuh, two outside the front door and two outside the building. They never go in.”

 

Noctis sets his phone down on the table and looks up at him, chewing another bite of toast and then swallowing it.

 

“Wouldn't be the first time I've blown off school.”

 

“Ah, wonderful, I'm accomplice to truancy now. May I pick which spike my head is mounted upon?”

 

That teases a half-smile out of Noctis and Nyx is grateful because even that much is better than the wry depreciative look he's been wearing.

 

“Well, unfortunately unlike His Esteemed Highness, this mere Glaive does sadly have to venture out into the cold unforgiving world today because his fridge is empty and if he misses training his Captain will make the next few weeks a pain.”

 

Noctis snorts into his coffee, taking another bite of toast immediately afterwards.

 

“Ah, yes, I heard that Drautos is a hardass.”

 

“You were not misinformed.”

 

Nyx grins at him until Noctis returns it.

 

* * *

 

They finally stumble out of Nyx's apartment one hour later after much protest on Noctis's part. Nyx is reluctant, but it feels like leaving the Prince to his own devices in his apartment all day is tempting fate too much, and he breaths out in relief when the Prince finally agrees to go home. They exchange numbers and Nyx promises that Noctis can come over any time so long as a. Nyx is present, and b. Noctis isn't avoiding any immediate duties, royal or otherwise, because Nyx is quite sure that that's a nice quick way to get himself locked up in the deepest dungeons of the Citadel.

 

Nyx leaves him a street over from Noctis's apartment, figuring this is close enough to consider it 'walking the Prince safely home', but far enough from 'making it known where Noctis Lucis Caelum, only son and heir to the throne of Lucis, has spent the past eighteen hours and which Glaive ignored his duty to one crown in favour of indulging the interests of another'. He waits there for five minutes, until his phone beeps with a text from Noctis containing a photo of a stack of homework and reports on his desk and the caption 'Hope you have a better night than me :')'. He's late to training because of it, but Drautus's ire rolls off him like water on wax.

 

On his way home, Nyx buys a pair of new(er) plates and two full sets of cutlery, telling himself that it's because he should plan for visitors more often and not because he's just now feeling a little embarrassed by the 'authentic Galadhan comfort' he has shown the Prince, but, as he puts them away in the least wonky of his kitchen drawers, he finds he misses the background noise of Noctis's presence, and he is acutely aware of the absence against the clamour outside from the nearby trainline, the cars, and the music from the pub across the street. When Nyx had first moved into the Glaive-issue refugee apartment he had found it too small and claustrophobic but now, with only a fleeting memory of difference, it seems entirely too big and entirely too empty.

 

* 

 

Several miles deeper into Insomnia, Prince Noctis turns in bed and squints at his alarm clock in the meagre light from the street lamps outside and closes his eyes again as he too misses the subtle noise of another's presence, and the heady spice and sandalwood scent of Nyx's apartment that lingers now in the balled up shirt clutched between his fingers.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise that this one is quite dialogue-heavy...I think that the next chapter(s) should focus more on introspective stuff and action.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
